Announcing the Grand Prize Winner in our 2010 miniStories contest

This week's featured author in our flash fiction series is Minnesota newcomer Hillary Wentworth.

Hillary Wentworth studied creative writing at the University of New Hampshire, the Salt Institute, and the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where she received her MFA. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Black Warrior Review, Caesura, and the Fourth River. Hillary enjoys reading, traveling, hip-hop dancing, and roller skating, among other pursuits. As a new resident, she is excited about all things Minnesota.

Hillary's story, 146.9 Volts, was selected as the GRAND PRIZE WINNER by our all-star panel of flash fiction judges -- Alexander Chee (The Queen of the Night, Edinburgh), Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket series, The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, Adverbs), Kevin Larimer (editor of Poets & Writers), Heather McElhatton (Pretty Little Mistakes, Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single), and author Dennis Cass, who served as lead juror in mnartists.org's 2010 miniStories competition.

miniStories is a part of mnartist.org's mnLIT progam and is presented online by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org. All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our poetry contest, What Light, will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Hillary's story.

Tempis Fugit

Aspiring writers, take note. The deadline for submissions, both for What Light poetry contest and for the miniStories flash fiction competition is coming up in just one week--May 16. This is a great opportunity to get your work in front of some very important judges, including poet Todd Boss (author of Yellowrocket), Chris Fischbach (Associate Publisher, Coffee House Press), Daniel Handler (who penned the Lemony Snicket series), Kevin Larimer (editor of Poets & Writers), Heather McElhatton
(author of Pretty Little Mistakes and Jennifer Johnson is Sick of Being Single).

Here are the details:

• The deadline for submissions is midnight, May 16
• There's no entry fee
• Any Minnesota resident may enter work to either or both contests
• The grand prize-winning poet and fiction writer will each receive $500 and a commission for a second piece
• 20 finalists in each competition, 40 in all, will have their work published on mnartists.org throughout the year
• Adjudication of all submissions is handled anonymously, and is based solely on the work entered, which may be in any genre or poetic style

The full call for writers, with length requirements and additional details for those interested in submitting work, is available here.

Here, At Last

"Here, At Last" is the second of Neil Dyer's poems to be chosen a winner in our What Light Poetry Contest - and it's one of my personal favorites.

"Here, At Last" was selected by Leslie Adrienne Miller a poet and professor of English at St. Thomas University.

To visit M+Q's mnLIT page, read more about Neil and Leslie, and learn about the most recent call for submissions to What Light and miniStories please click here.

See you next week!
Jay P.

What the Neurologist Doesn't Say

"What the Neurologist Doesn't Say" is a newly commissioned poem by one of our 2009 What Light grand prize-winners, Jeff Johnson. Each of these new pieces is accompanied by a curated selection of work drawn from mnartists.org's vast database of artists. To view a slideshow of images selected to accompany Jeff's' poem, please click here.

To visit M+Q's mnLIT page, read more about Jeff click, and learn more about the most recent call for submissions to What Light and miniStories here.

--Jay P.

Write On

mnLIT, a writing competition for poets and short story writers, has issued its 2010 call for entries. Twenty winning poems and stories will be published at both mnartists.org and magersandquinn.com. The top selection in each category will earn its author five hundred dollars.

Entries will be accepted through Sunday, May 16. mnLIT is open to all Minnesota residents. Details are here.--David E

This week's winning poem is Susan Stevens Chambers' "Weather Advisory"

Self-described "Lawyer Poet" Susan Stevens Chambers is this week's winner in our What Light Poetry Contest. Her poem was selected by fellow poet Joyce Sidman, author of Red Sings from Treetops.

What Light is a part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org.

Click here to read Susan's poem and to learn more about the mnLIT contests.--Jay P.

Read a new piece of short fiction by Jorie Miller

We're back with another winning piece from our flash fiction competition miniStories. miniStories is part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers & Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org.

This week's winner is "JULY 29, 1954" by Jorie Miller. Jorie is a graduate of the University of Minnesota who now teaches writing classes for beginners at The Loft Literary Center and at the White Bear Center for the Arts.

Jorie's story was selected by novelist Jon Fasman, author of The Geographer's Library. Mr. Fasman is also a writer and an editor for The Economist's web site

All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Jorie's story.--Jay P

Read Alison Moore's short story The Apartment

We're back with another winning piece from our flash fiction competition miniStories. miniStories is part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers & Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org.

This week's winner is "The Apartment" by Alison Morse. All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Alison's story was selected by novelist David Oppegaard, author of Wormwood, Nevada.

Click here to read Alison's story.--Jay P

Read a story by Duluth's Paul Lundgren

We're back with another winning piece from our flash fiction competition miniStories. miniStories is part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers & Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org.

This week's winner is "Beat" by Paul Lundgren. All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Paul's short story was selected by bestselling author Leif Enger, author of Peace Like a River.

Click here to read Paul's story and to hear what Leif had to say about it.--Jay P

A mnLIT Original by Ben Weaver

"Eggshells" is a newly commissioned poem by one of our 2009 What Light grand prize-winners, Ben Weaver. Each of these new works is accompanied by a curated selection of work drawn from mnartists.org's vast database of artists. To view a slideshow of those images click here.

You can read more of Ben's poetry (and, while you're there, view his artwork or listen to a song or two) on his very own blog.

What Light is a part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org.

Click here to read Ben's poem and to learn more about the mnLIT contests.--Jay P

Read Rebecca Dosch-Brown's story The Trousers

We're back with another winning piece from our flash fiction competition miniStories. miniStories is part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org.

This week's winner is "The Trousters" by Rebecca Dosch-Brown. All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Rebecca's short story was selected by Lise Erdrich, author of Night Train.

Click here to read Rebecca's story and to learn more about the mnLIT contest and to read the winning poem from the holiday week by Kirsten Dierking.--Jay P

Half Asleep by Kirsten Dierking is this week's winning poem

Kirsten Dierking's poem Half Asleep is this week's winner in our What Light Poetry Project. Kirstin has published two books of poetry, one with Spout Press and another with Holy Cow! Press.

What Light is a part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org. All the winning poems, as well as the short stories from our flash fiction competition miniStories will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Kirsten's poem and to learn more about the mnLIT contest.--Jay P

Read a new poem by Darci Schummer

Darci Schummer's poem Hair is this week's winner in our What Light Poetry Project. This is the second of Darci's work to be selected for this year's contest.

What Light is a part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org. All the winning poems, as well as the short stories from our flash fiction competition miniStories will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Darci's poem and to learn more about the mnLIT contest.--Jay P

Read Caroline Ore's short fiction on our mnLIT page

Caroline Ore's short story "Solo Performance" is this week's winner in our flash fiction competition miniStories. miniStories is a part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org.

All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Caroline was selected as a winner by local novelist David Oppegaard, whose novel Wormwood, Nevada was just published by St. Martin's Press.

Click here to read Caroline's story and to learn more about the mnLIT contest.--Jay P

A new poem by Greg Watson

Greg Watson's poem "My Brother's Tattoo" is this week's winner in our What Light Poetry Project. If memory serves me, I believe that Greg has had a winning poem in each of our What Light contests. He also has a new book due out soon titled Not Elsewhere, But Here.

What Light is a part of mnLIT, which is presented by Magers and Quinn Booksellers and mnartists.org. All the winning poems, as well as the short stories from our flash fiction competition miniStories will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Greg's poem and to learn more about the mnLIT contest.--Jay P

Read Todd Pederson's winning poem "Flatiron: On Market Sunday"

Todd Pederson's poem "Flatiron: On Market Sunday" was selected by poet Dobby Gibson (author of Skirmish)as this week's winner in our What Light Poetry Contest.

All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Todd's poem and to learn more about the What Light contest.--Jay P

This Week's What Light contest winner is Kayla Skarbakka

Kayla Skarbakka's poem Mary in Blue is one of the winning pieces in this year's What Light competition, which is sponsored by Magers and Quinn and presented by mnartists.org. All the winning poems from our What Light contest (as well as the stories from our Flash Fiction contest, miniStories) will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Kayla's wonderful poem.

This week's mnLIT Winner is Eric Vrooman's "Performance Review"

Eric Vrooman's "Performance Review" is one of the winning pieces in this year's Flash Fiction competition miniStories, which is sponsored by Magers and Quinn and presented by mnartists.org. Eric's story was chosen by memoirist Diana Joseph, one of our talented judges.

All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Eric's story.

Brian Beatty is this week's winner of our miniStories Flash Fiction contest

"Velour" by Brian Beatty is one of the winning pieces in this year's Flash Fiction competition miniStories, which is sponsored by Magers and Quinn and presented by mnartists.org. Brian's story was chosen by novelist David Oppegaard, one of our talented judges.

All the winning stories, as well as the poems from our What Light contest will be published on magersandquinn.com and mnartists.org in the months to come. So come back soon!

Click here to read Brian's story.

Celebrate Fiction

Winners of the most recent miniStories competion will read their flash fiction on Monday, August 17, from 7:00pm-9:00pm at the Ritz Theater--at 345 Thirteenth Ave NE in Northeast Minneapolis. Plus: What Light's grand prize champions will perform their winning poems.

Even if you can't make the live readings, read some of the best new work by Minnesota writers on mnartists.org and magersandquinn.com, where a new poem or story is published each week. Or, if you prefer, listen to our winners read their pieces by downloading a free audio version of the weekly mnLIT story or poem through the Walker's iTunes channel.

minLIT--which includes both miniStories and What Light--is jointly sponsored by Magers & Quinn Booksellers, the Twin Cities largest independent bookstore, and mnartists.org--an online service of the Walker Art Center for artists of all types.

Details on this event are here.--David E